The present invention relates to chain pipe-cutters of the kind used in sanitary engineering and public works for cutting pipes used in freshwater supply and waste water discharge networks. Such pipes are made of a variety of materials, particularly grey pig iron or ductile cast-iron, steel, sandstone, concrete, fibro-cement and plastics.
Prior-art pipe-cutters are normally adapted restrictively to cut only one kind of material, making it necessary to have different complete pipe-cutters or to carry out lengthy assembling and dismantling operations in order to adapt the pipe-cutter to the kind of material to be cut. Further, pipe-cutters used for cutting ferrous-metal pipes usually operate by angular displacement of the cutting chain, whereas pipe-cutters for sandstone, concrete or pipes operate by a bursting of the pipe by sheer constrictive pressure, without rotation. The chain tensioning systems consequently differ, the forces required with pressure-cutting being far greater than those required with rotation-cutting. This makes it necessary to have at least two pipe-cutters, thus entailing a comparatively large capital investment.